The success of every product is the result of thorough, diligent market research. Millions of new products are launched every year, but many of them fade into obscurity in a matter of weeks or months. In order to ensure that a product will be successful, it is vital to know what people want and need. This is where market research comes in handy, as market research is the perfect method of obtaining the information that will help you to know if your product will rise or fall. You have to know your customer in order to know your business. Taking the time to do market research is the key to being successful, and neglecting to do market research is the quickest way to ensure the failure of a product or service.
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Step 1: Define Your Target
In order to be successful with your market research, you have to know what your target market is. Even if you don’t know the specific demographic, you can determine what your general target market is by evaluating your product. You can be certain that baby gear is targeted at women and men between the ages of 20 and 45, while the latest electronic device is usually targeted at men and professionals between the age of 25 and 50. Evaluate your product to determine what your target will be as you conduct the market research.
Step 2: Create the Format
You can use online surveys, telephone surveys, questionnaires, mailed surveys, focus groups, interviews, and many more methods of obtaining the information from your target market. You should use a variety of different methods of obtaining this information, as a single type of market research method will only cover a single category of people. Write questions that are pointed, focused, and designed to elicit clear, open responses from the customers surveyed. Leave the survey with plenty of room to obtain suggestions and advice from the ones that you are interviewing, and always encourage those providing feedback to be as detailed as possible.
Step 3: Get Specific Information
The more you can obtain specific information from each participant in the various surveys, the more precisely you are able to understand what each type of person wants. Find out how many employees a person has, how many children, how many cars, what type of neighborhood, what specific range of salary, what type of stores they visit, and hundreds of other specific details. Each of these details that you obtain can help you to tailor your product or service to the precise needs and wants of your target market. The more specific and detailed information you can obtain, the more likely your product will be to succeed.
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Step 4: Use the Data
Once you have tested the survey with family and friends, get it out to as many people as possible. Gather as much data as you can from as many people as possible, and start putting that information to work on helping you to know what people want. Obtain enough information to provide you with a clear picture of the market for a specific product, and go back and get more answers if you don’t have enough. Study the information thoroughly to find any type of patterns, and continue to evaluate the information until you find that data that just “POPS”. As soon as you find the information that will show you what people want, put it into action immediately and get that product that will meet people’s needs out on the market.
By doing this proper research, you ensure that your product is guaranteed success, as much as any product can be. There is nothing that guarantees that your market research will lead to a hugely successful product, but you stand a much better chance of succeeding if you know what people really want. Make sure that you understand all of the information that you gather, and ensure that you gather accurate, detailed information as much as possible. The more data you can obtain through these market research methods, the more likely you are going to be to find a product that will give people exactly what they want.